LIBRA Houserules

Did some setting, now for some rules for my LIBRA game. Again, thanks to Archon. By the way, if you want more content easily insertable into this kind of game, check out some Black Books, Black Auctions, and Anomalous Media. Folks have been working on a lot of this sort of stuff, you'll have to search it out a bit.

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COMPOSURE
Characters have an attribute called Composure (CM). Psychics and Apsychs get 2dr and Friendlies and Freaks get 1dr of CM per template. Most WIS saves are replaced by CM saves, especially for psychic influence, and CM goes down by 1 for each unsuccessful save. At 0 CM, the psychic influence overwhelms you. You become Connected with whatever psychic force was influencing you (or something else if nothing in particular was influencing you). If your psyche is attacked again, you gain one of these madnesses:
1. Phobia. Of whatever just happened probably
2. Minor Hullucinations. Senses (listening at doors, telepathy, etc.) become unreliable.
3. Vacillation. One character you loved you now hate, and vice versa.
4. Nonverbal. Hope you like charades.
5. Delusion. Paranoia, megalomania, glass piano, etc.

Connections represent footholds that outside influences have in your mind. The GM can always tell you what your Connection would like you to do, and you can always resist, but once per mission per connection the GM can make resisting reduce your next draw by 1. If you have more Connections than maximum CM, you become unplayable as your core psyche is overwritten. But if you are careful, doing the will of alien gods and nefarious agencies can get you some fun prizes, you know. Lore and paratech and more powers.

Composure can be restored by a good nights sleep in a safe place. Madness can be cured with a week of rest (you don't actually have that mental illness, its just a psychic effect). Connections require more difficult methods.

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F R E A K
2dr HP, 1dr CM per template
A: Evolution
B+: Metamorphosis

Evolution
You get +2 to one stat of your choosing. Add 1 to a random stat for every mutation you have. You may start with up to 3 mutations.

Metamorphosis
When you gain this template, you gain as many mutations as you have mutations.

Note: If you ever have more mutations than your max HP, you become something totally inhuman (and unplayable). Also, unlike psychics, people might notice you just walking around. Writing a mutations list seems boring and there's already plenty of good ones.

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CATCHING 77 WINKS
Most people visit the dreamlands about once every two weeks. Most people don't remember it. Psychics can. To enter the dreamlands, any character who is either psychically active or has been there before (and remembers) makes a check drawing 1 + their maximum psychic potential, drawing twice as much if under the effect of certain drugs. That character may "bring along" a number of other willing people in their vicinity equal to their psychic potential (who can then bring along their own, who can bring along their own, in a daisy chain). The exception here is Apsychs, who can't enter it at all (they should have a dreamlands specific character to play though).

The Dreamlands is essentially a sword-and-sorcery setting overlaid on the world. Great ones and earth-bound gods, elven civilizations, Ynn, Pagana, Carcosa, throw whatever in. Everyone in the dreamlands has +1 psychic potential. You can always spend a psychic potential to try to wake up, making a check with your highest mental stat or LUCK. Wounds gained in the dreamlands don't stick, but Madness and Connection does. If you die in the dreamlands, you never wake up.

Obviously you can't bring back treasure from the Dreamlands, with very few exceptions, but you can learn lore, make deals, meet other psychics, kill people with your brain, edit the collective unconscious, etc. And if you do want the ancient artifacts you find there, you might be able to learn the location of their real-world counterparts.

Time passes very differently in the dreamlands, so you can adventure for a whole week before the night is over. Even though time passes much faster while dreaming, it doesn't pass much while you aren't dreaming, so you mostly "resume" when you go back, unless a whole week has passed in real life. When you enter the dreamlands, make a check with your highest mental stat or LUCK. If you succeed, you may decide to enter where you left, or at a nearby "acessible" location (e.g. you can't dream your way past a locked door, but you can get back out of a dungeon). If you fail, the GM decides.

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Excerpts from OSIRIS dossiers

Libra is a game by Archon's Court, where you play as psychic weirdos and the people who help them as they run from the government and investigate spooky stuff. I like it a lot, although the direction I want to take it is slightly different from the way that Archon took it.

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The "Polestar" is the codename used by agents for the black octohedron of unknown composition hovering ~100 kilometers above the south pole. Manned missions passing too close result in brain deterioration, coma, and death. Remote viewing, either by visual, technical, or paranormal means, for extended periods produces what OSIRIS terms as "Theurges". Theurges display reduced creativity, emotional intelligence, and linguistic ability, increased levels of physical and mathematical knowledge, and psychic dampening, and are perceived by baseline humans as "soulless puppets". Technology produced in collaboration with Theurges is the backbone of OSIRIS R&D, and they are present in OSIRIS field teams, security, as well as OSIRIS high command and shadow council.

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Psychic Phenomena are simply defined in opposition to Physical Phenomena. Where Physical Phenomena come about via physical means, the movements of atoms and the fundemental forces, Psychic Phenomena apparently do not come about by physical means. Often, this comes as a result of the influence of living beings, and comes in the form of causing change in a physical object at a distance (telekinesis) or perceiving something at a distance (telecognition) in a physically impossible way.

Paratechnology is any type of technology which works via means not currently physically understood. This includes Psychic means, but also highly advanced technology that functions via physical principles. OSIRIS strongly discourages staff from using the term "Magic" or any synonym thereof, to avoid superstitious and archaic attitudes which may prove inefficient or even deadly. Paratechnology is to be cautiously understood, not feared or adored.

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OSIRIS is aware of multiple similar scientific organizations supported by national governments. The National Institute of Coordinated Experiments (N.I.C.E.), based in England, is a purely scientific organization with no political leanings. It has been totally subverted by OSIRIS since 1970, after Incident 280 ("The Elephant"). The main research interest of N.I.C.E. has been in contacting Macrobial entities and advancing human evolution. These projects are much smaller in scale than the LIBRA and VIRGO projects, and have been closely monitored and occasionally sabotaged by OSIRIS agents. OSIRIS High Command has designated N.I.C.E. a Eosphoros-class group.

The Technological and Scientific Academy for Neuroscience (T.S.A.N.) is a similar organization based in Japanese Taiwan. OSIRIS espionage and diplomacy has so far been unsuccessful in totally subverting T.S.A.N. to the same degree. T.S.A.N. research focuses on technological and paratechnological applications for the prosperity of imperial Japan. The technological advancements made by T.S.A.N. and their ability to detect and expel OSIRIS agents are likely due to Macrobial influence and significant precognitive ability throughout the organization. OSIRIS High Command has designated T.S.A.N. a Phaenon-class group.

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The term "Macrobe" is a shortening of Macrobiological Psychically Active Entity, coined by the scientist François Alcasan in 1962 to describe creatures larger than humans which possess psychic influence at least equivalent to psychically active humans, though often their psychic influence is much greater. This term has a deliberately wide application, anything from a psychic bear to a universal intelligence. Other terms used for these creatures (by non-OSIRIS groups) are M-Psychs, cryptids, and gods. OSIRIS strongly discourages staff from using terms that promote superstitious and archaic attitudes which may prove inefficient or even deadly.

In contrast to M-Psychs, Macrobiological Non-psychically Active Entities are also known to OSIRIS. OSIRIS promotes the use of the term "N-Psych" for such creatures, though "Monster" is acceptable in practice. Though both M-Psychs and N-Psychs may be refered to as Macrobes, traditionally Macrobe refers to M-Psychs, the description of which led the term to be coined. Parahumans are creatures outside of the species Homo Sapiens which nontheless possess human shape. Parahumans are often (but not always) psychically active, and some parahumans may also fall under the M-Psych or N-Psych categories.

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Luna, commonly known as the Moon, is a Macrobe in orbit around the Earth, and is the largest piece of pseudo-biological paratechnology known to humanity. She was built, or grown, for an unknown purpose sometime before the hadean era ended. Though possessing immense computational power and intelligence, her psychic field is comparatively weak for an entity of her size, and her personality appears to be mutable. She freely admits that she has been influenced strongly by humanity's perception of her over millions of years, and has become [a huge humanaboo lmaooo]. She does not drastically interfere with humanity, and apparently cannot do so, but appears occasionally through holographic projection (through fine manipulation of reflective moon dust), psychic contact, online personas, and physical avatars made by paratechnology given to devotees.

Known aliases include: Isis, Artemis, Diana, Gabriel (one of few male aliases), Princess Kaguya, the Lady of the Lake, Marilyn Monroe, Cate Blanchett, and indie Vtuber Annika Tsukihime. Aliases and avatars appear to be capable of independent action, and only able to communicate with Luna while the physical moon is in the sky. Luna is apparently in favor of the continued existence of human society and normalcy, though is willing to impart some knowledge to those who have already seen through normalcy according to her whims. She is an incredibly good actor, and none of her aliases have substantially broken normalcy in the modern day. She is most commonly described as bubbly, personable, coy, and condescending, and often appears as a dead female loved one, preferentially white European, or else as an woman pleasing to the taste of her collocutor.

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Homo Abditus is a diverse mutated subspecies of Homo Sapiens. The most common English name for this group is "Elfs", though they are also called "Witches" and "Goblins", among other names. They are found globally in insular communities, hidden by paratechnological and psychic means. Anthropological studies suggest that Homo Abditus communities both manipulate and emulate local folklore to ensure that baseline humans perceived them as not real, not worth bothering, dangerous, harmless, and too mysterious to interfere with. Though Homo Abditus are a subspecies of Homo Sapiens, OSIRIS classes Homo Abditus as a Parahuman group.

Homo Abditus communities apparently all trace their ancestry back to a single source, a legendary ancestor or deity, possibly a Macrobe. The name of this ancestor in all communities seems to be linguistically descended from the obscure ugaritic deity Kothar Elhatu, the Wise Destroying-Lord of the Spear, who has apparently vanished "within". Their use of paratechnology relies on cryptic and closely guarded oral traditions. Interrogation of living specimens has proved unfeasible, and the paratechnology possessed by Homo Abditus communities is currently inaccessible to OSIRIS agents.

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The LIBRA project was a series of experiments conducted to attempt the artificial creation of psychically active humans. These tests relied on paratechnology salvaged from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, including psychoactive substances (Solutions B-F), paratechnological devices (Objects 54-60), and memetically active patterns (Motifs C1-C4). The LIBRA project was deemed a liability to normalcy in 20XX after [REDACTED] test subjects escaped. Subsequently, all test subjects still under OSIRIS supervision have been disposed of, and [REDACTED] escaped test subjects have been terminated.

Successful LIBRA test subjects display(ed) the following traits: Erratic Behavior, Narcissistic and megalomaniacal tendencies, increased artistic and theatric talent and tendencies, greatly increased psychic influence (both actual and potential), and being too damn annoying for a certain piece of self-righteous geometry. LIBRA test subject were all tattooed with a Libra constellation symbol on the nape of their neck, along with an identification number. LIBRA test subjects are all extremely dangerous. Sightings should be reported to OSIRIS security, and field teams without an OSIRIS Theurge present should not engage.

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"The Sleeper" is an entity that has been identified by a OSIRIS as a Macrobe, located in the Mohorovičić discontinuity below the Shetland islands. The Sleeper's psychic influence represents a global "background radiation", overlapping everywhere with the Human Collective Unconscious, if the two phenomena are not in fact the same. This fact has led to the identification of many Sleeper-inspired figures in folklore, fiction, and religion. Analysis of this folkloric evidence leads OSIRIS agents to believe the Sleeper physically resembles an squat, radially symmetric decapod of unknown size. Accounts of psychically sensitive individuals allege that the Sleeper maintains a psychic para-reality, the alleged "Dreamlands". No direct evidence for this has been found by OSIRIS scientists, and it is suspected that this phenomenon is in fact random hallucinations caused by prolonged psychic vulnerability.

Star-Crossed Lovers (How to Win the Dawn War)

As the party are travelling through any temperate part of the world, they hear a cry from a nearby hamlet. A woman runs screaming into the night. Her husband has turned into a monster.

The woman is Lissia, and what was once her husband is Huon. They are poor farmers, and their marriage was never happy. Huon was strict and demanding, and Lissia tries to remember how he used to be when they were young. She saw a shooting star last night, more immense and bright than she had ever seen, and even heard the crash.

The thing that was once her husband is stretched and lean. Chaotic black horns grow from its head, branching and knotting and kinking, covered in a bloody velvet. Its face is a mask of fractured and chitin-like bone, and its eyes glow with a weird light, like fungal gold. Two fingers on each hand have shriveled so that a triple claw is all that is left. If it is given a few minutes, it shall learn how to speak.

(Looking on it prompts a save (or Attack vs. Will) or take 2d6 psychic damage as alien thoughts worm their way into your mind from the newly grown symbols that are its mulitations)

It is, it will tell you, the star that fell. It wants... something. A pleasure unheard of in his far home. It can't go back, now. Earth is for fools and exiles. It meant to come in secret, but it has already been discovered. This man felt close, close to what it knew, what it wanted. So it took him. He took him. He did not mean to change him.

(If you ask him his name, he will not want to tell you. If you insist, he will let out a dread keening which calls to mind images of a burning theater, mushrooms growing in your stomach, and a deep red. Another save vs. 2d6 psychic damage.)

The star is the spawn of Gibbeth and Hadar, a prince of the dreadful parody of the world that is Dim Carcosa. Its main body is out in the woods, and very dangerous to look upon. It glows with the same feverish light as the creature's eyes, and causes the plants to grow quickly and strange, some leaves and flowers flapping away with a fairy-dusting of spores. Its consciousness has all but left it, overshadowing the spirit of Huon, enveloping and slowly digesting it like an amoeba. The spirit will be gone before sunrise.

Angels saw the falling of the star and are on their way to destroy it. They do not know about Huon yet. If the party makes use of the Cerulean Sign, the consciousness of the star will leave Huon and return to its main body. If its main body is destroyed, and its consciousness is exorcised, it will leave the world altogether (and then Gibbeth will eat it for being a disgusting pervert). If he is exorcised, the mutations Huon received will be reduced, but will still greatly disfigure him, and his spirit will be left in a pathetic state (though, he may be healed by divine intervention). Lissia will not leave him. They will probably live happily ever after, with the power dynamic significantly shifted.

If the star is not exorcised, something else will happen.

He will fall in love.

The memory of love left under all of Huon's superiority and meanness will grab hold of him. Humanity, as it turns out, is as alien, and as infectious, to the stars as any of their thoughts are to us. Huon (as he will, eventually, ask to be called) will fall in love with Lissia. What happens from there is so up to the players that I can hardly write about it. I will say, however, that it is not impossible for Lissia to love the Star-Huon (which, perhaps, says something a little worse about her than her modest peasant appearance suggests), and there are two or three gods who might take pity on their plight. But that is another story.

Locheil's setting questions for my Space Fantasy

 

Which specific NPC do I want to piss off the least?  

You probably don't want to piss off the Amethyst Emperor. His palace assassins will mess you up, and could probably follow you to any planet in the system. He's pretty hard to piss off though, since you'd need to actually be in his court (an erratic and incredibly fast space station) to do so.

Which god should I want to piss off the most? 

If you are anything like a cross-section of the OSR community (that is, a no-gods no-kings heathen), you probably want to piss of the Cult of the Golden Nimbus, the resident theocracy of the greenhouse-prarie planet Akron.

What's the worst thing I could meet at a crossroads? 

A Salipish Gravatic-Sorcerer, because that probably means your crossroads are about to erupt into space *or* that your crossroads are the property of a Salipish floating-warlord.

What's the nearest thing that can utterly destroy me to your starting town? Or starting town equivalent? 

Depends a great deal on what planet you are on. Oredonian sea monsters (and undersea ruin-reactors) for Oredon; the crushing pressure of the dream barrier for Lannit and its moons; Roche-limit asteroids, boiling tidal geysers, and crashing sky-fortesses for Salip; Falling into a predatory plant on Akron; and the aforementioned Assassins in the Amethyst Court.

Is apotheosis open to my character? If not, why not? 

Probably not open because there isn't ostensibly any gods. You might be able to do something godlike with the tech in Oredon's ruins, or the ruins in the Reverie Belt, and you could probably get a cult as a dreamer in Lannit, as a warlord on Salip or Kazran, and the Amethyst Court is basically heaven.

Do people in your world have souls? Why? 

People have dreaming bodies, and sometimes reincarnate, but there's nothing really seperating the soul from the body and mind. Reincarnation is just people sometimes coming back from the dead with a new body, nothing about your essence inhabiting a different body.

Does jazz exist in your setting yet? Can I invent it and not be stoned to death? 

The people of Akron can do some wild things with a bugle and not!cello, but pianos and saxaphones haven't been invented. Really depends on who's the possible stone-thrower.

What's the weirdest country/polity/region/area on your map? 

Akron is weirdest in terms of ecosystem (thermosynthetic and carnivorous plants) but is basically a medieval world, Lannit is weirdest in terms of geology (a hollow gas-giant with an internal dream world), Bazran and the Amethyst court are weirdest in terms of diversity of magic and races.

Do guns exist yet? If they do, is there anything making them weird/different?
guns exist but are basically gravititional or magnetic crossbows, flinging sharp bits of metal with no combustion.

Is there a divide between mundane/magical animals? 

Things in the Moon World

What is the Moon World?

The earth is encapsulated by many, many crystal spheres, called the heavens. The sphere closest to the earth is the Lunar sphere, and on the surface of that sphere is the Lunar World. The Moon, the one we see, is a hole in this sphere, as are most of the stars (Some of the stars are holes punched through more spheres than the Lunar sphere. Mercury, for instance, is punched through two spheres, the lunar sphere and the mercurial sphere. Other planets are similar). In addition to spheres above the earth, the earth itself is a sphere with a multitude of spheres below it, that we know as the hells. The Moon World is dominated by a fertile desert of silvery sand and dark water, but not all areas on the Moon World are like this. Its like the ocean; most of earth is covered in it, but some of the most interesting places are not. These places include the Land of Pillars, the Solar Reach, The Country of the Selenians, and the Forest of the Night.

Dark Waters

How Do I Get to the Moon World?

The easiest way is to die a good man. The Moon World is basically heaven, so you'll go there if you reach nirvana, become a saint, something like that. Then you'll live a few lifetimes there in beautiful bliss. You'll go native, forget that you ever lived on earth, and try to work towards going up another level. 

If you want to get to the Moon World without reincarnating several times, you will probably get on a rocket or cannon. Then, you are shot through the largest hole in the lunar sphere, the Moon. However, you will probably be attacked by legions of celestials.

Silver Sands

How do the Moon People Feel About Us?

The newly reincarnated view us with grace and pity. However, they really can't express this as they are spending a short eternity in ecstasy and bliss. Those that have lived a few lives there view us with judgement and contempt. We are to be avoided or we might corrupt the good and decent folk up there. Incursions are to be dealt with swiftly and harshly. reincarnation is encouraged and accepted. If any celestial petitioners are sent to help the terrestrial sphere, they will be of the newly reincarnated, so we aren't murdured instead of help. Essentially, we are demons to them, albeit pitiful ones. They are the humans, in their mind. They have their own angels from the mercurial sphere. Demons similarly are formed from human souls, and view themselves as humans and view us as angels.

Who Rules the Moon?

The moon is ruled by She who Looks Down on Us with Grace, Selene. In a similar way to the souls reincarnated on the moon for their goodness, Selene used to be the godess of earth, but ascended because of her skill at producing good mortals. Gaia occupied the position of Moon Goddess before, but she was cast to earth to make way for Selene (Gaia doesn't really like Selene). The sphere directly below us, the underworld, the infernal sphere, is ruled by the goddess Cthon, who is really bad at producing good souls, and that's why we don't have any demons reincarnating into humans. I'll write about Cthon and the underworld later.

Earthly Servants of Selene

What can I Fight?!

The Blissed

The first thing you'll fight on the moon will probably be the legions of newly ascended souls. Their touch spreads agonizing bliss and, if you take too many hits, makes you forget about the lower world. The pain from fighting might give them clarity about their past lives, though to them this will seem like a vision of hell. 

HD: as commoner with exploding dice. Defence: as cleric. Attacks: +3 to hit, 1d2 psychic caress

• Beatific Touch: When The Blissed collectively do 10 damage to one target, that target makes a saving throw or fall into helpless bliss, which lasts until the next long rest. When they deal 30 damage to a target, the target must make a saving throw or forget about earth.

• Horrific Awakening: When The Blissed, or one of those that took an effect from Beatific Touch, take maximum damage from a weapon, they take an additional 1d6 psychic damage and then re-roll their reaction dice and become a commoner. This dispels any effect given by Beatific Touch

  

  Like These Except Really Happy

Pyrotechnic Angels

Angels are constructs built by Selene and other powerful moon-dwellers to house the souls of the souls which have reincarnated several times, and can no longer manifest their forms. These particular angels are used as shock troops, due to their volatility and distracting presence. Generally, the most wrathful and inspiring souls are used in these angels. They resemble rolls of paper, which unroll slightly into a small, flat figure with simple cut-out appendages, covered in glyphs and colorful ink. If they are burned heavily, or close enough to the roll, which contains magic explosive powder, they explode into dazzling, powerful humanoid forms for a short while before dissapearing. Their magic power is a potent drug as well as an explosive, and counts for all purposes as a soul. Their paper halves the cost of copying your next spell.

HD: as fire elemental. Defence: as fire elemental. Attacks: +5 to hit, 1d4+1 slashing damage (special)

• Dazzling Form: When The Pyrotechnic Angel takes fire damage from one attack equal to the number of its HD, or is reduces it to 1/8 its hitpoints, it makes a save (which it can, and likely will, choose to fail) or combusts into flame, dealing Xd8+3 radiant or fire (whichever is more effective) damage per attack, where X is the damage that the last fire attack dealt. It also gains immunity to fire and radiant damage. It persists in this form for a number of turns equal to its HD minus half the damage the last fire attack dealt, after which it fades and vanishes. It can also choose at any time to voluntarily combust.

  

  Probably Not Like This

Bismuth Angels

Like Pyrotechnic Angels, Bismuth Angels house a veteran soul. They are used as guardians and builders, and their touch creates strange order. They house creative and steadfast souls. They vary wildly, from the size of a pixie, to a crystalline behemoth. Shards of their crystal can be used as an arcane focus, or holy symbol, and it grants +1 AC and +1 to the relevant spellcasting score when casting conjuration and illusion magic.

HD: 1d8 Defences: as Earth Elemental or Iron Golem, with weakness to thunder & damage. Attacks: Xd6 piercing, cold, or force (whichever is more effective) (special) 

• Original Forms: Bismuth Angels roll 1d6 to determine size (1. tiny 2. small 3-4. medium 5. large 6. huge) and roll 1d8 to determine their number of hit dice.

  

  Yeah

• Crystallizing Touch: The Bismuth Angel's attacks deal damage equals to their number of hit dice. When this attack first hits a bloodied creature, increase their AC by 1 and halve their speed. 

  

  Also Yeah

• Creative Harmonies: Each round, the Bismuth Angel can, as a Move action, create a crystalline structure with an volume up to (5*(6-the result of the size roll)) Ft^3. This construction lasts for a number of turns equal to their HD.

  

  If you want, I guess? I Guess???

There are other angels, such as Selenite, Sand, and Abyss Angels. For variety's sake, I'll talk about other creatures.

Giant Fucking Marine Invertebrates

What else would you find on the moon?

But Larger

You can probably find stats for these. Giant Isopods and other chitinous creatures are used by souls that are between Blissed and Angels, conscious and human-like, for food and armor. Giant slugs are bred for beauty, docility, and size. The powerful, human and non-human, will create a sort of living, moving gardens out of exceptionally large and beautiful slugs. Sea Pigs are used as breeding grounds for giant snails, which are used like dogs to hunt or herd dangerous or useful creatures respectively. Sea cucumbers are bred for waste management. Squid, octopi, and cuttlefish are psuedo-sapient and are revered as seers and prophets. 

Greys

Yeah, why not? Here, they are known as Selenians. They cannot comprehend other spheres, as they are not of human souls. As such, they fall through stars like we fall down invisible wells. They are completely blind in terrestrial light, though they can operate acceptably under the light of the moon and stars. Those who survive the fall and aren't killed as a monstrosity spend their nights gazing upwards, seeing straight through to the lunar world above. They occasionally try to modify cattle and other livestock to resemble the invertebrates of the lunar world. If this is unsuccessful, they will starve on the meat of earth. Stats as commoners, though they might have some weird tech or magic.

I think that's alright. done.